National Trust could vote in own watchdog
Campaign group calls for changes following concern over accountability at the conservation charity
‘As the nation’s largest private landowner, the charity is a powerful force in shaping the future of our countryside’
THE National Trust could be forced to appoint its own watchdog to ensure it is accountable to its members, volunteers and tenants.
The campaign group, Restore Trust, also wants to abolish discretionary votes by the chairman at the annual meeting that mean the views of individual members can be overruled.
Restore Trust submitted two resolutions calling for the changes earlier this month. They are set to be debated at what could be a stormy meeting of the trust in October.
If the motions are passed by members at the meeting they could become binding on the trust’s board.
The news came as Restore Trust organises a series of events this year in Houghton Hall, Norfolk, Shilstone House, Devon, and a property to be announced in East Sussex over the next three months, with historians including David Goodhart attempting to raise awareness among members.
The campaign group is concerned that while the NHS, Parliament, local authorities, universities and many other important public organisations have ombudsmen, the National Trust – in spite of the fact that it is one of the largest membership organisations in the world – does not benefit from one.
Complaints about the trust’s behaviour are dealt with by the chairman who is not seen as independent of the trust’s board.
While the Charity Commission regulates charities, including the National Trust, it does not investigate individual problems in the way an independent ombudsman could.
The campaigners said that an independent ombudsman would encourage the organisation to establish procedures to deal effectively and transparently with complaints at an early stage, so that the intervention of an external ombudsman is rarely needed.
Cornelia van der Poll, a spokesman for Restore Trust, said: “It is important that the National Trust is seen to be accountable. As the nation’s largest private landowner in particular, the charity is a powerful force in shaping the future of our countryside.”
The National Trust – which has more than six million members – was approached for comment.
The charity has found itself increasingly at odds with a minority of its members concerned about the apparently “woke” direction of its leadership.
In May last year, Tim Parker quit a seven-year term as chairman which has seen the trust involved in a series of controversies.
He stood down after it emerged that Restore Trust wanted him to resign, although the trust insisted this had no bearing on Mr Parker’s decision. At the annual meeting in November 2020, Mr Parker came under fire after he described Black Lives Matter – which in the UK has called on the Government to “defund the police” – as a “human rights movement with no party-political affiliations” in a letter to a member.
That came after the trust published a report in September 2020 into the links between its properties – including the home of Sir Winston Churchill – and the UK’S colonial and slavery past.
There was further controversy in 2017 when it emerged that the trust had tried to force volunteers at a Norfolk mansion to wear the gay pride rainbow symbol on lanyards and badges. The trust later dropped the demand.